When all around you are assholes, you are under no obligation to become one.

Jimmy Rick Rides a Whte Horse

A few days ago, Rick Perry, the Governor of Texas, announced his candidacy for President. He immediately became the darling of Red States and almost like a rocket, he pushed other Republican candidates below the fold or off of the front pages entirely.

Only Michele Bachman stood with him at the peak of Republican hopes. Her claim to fame? She won the Iowa straw poll, once a barometer of nationwide trends but now largely a field of dreams for redundant wannabes.

So what is it about Rick Perry that so enthralls Republicans?

To begin with, he is their version of the quintessential All-American Boy. Born on a farm in Paint Creek Texas, he became a real Air Force pilot and married his high school sweetheart. He’s a staunch church-goer and a firm believer in the interrelationship of church and state.

More than these, the man looks right. His handsome, youthful, energetic good looks set him apart from older candidates who seem shopworn and listless in comparison. Right Wing Republicans perceive him as the perfect counter to a vacillating and ineffective Barack Obama.

On the political front, Perry has been the Governor of Texas for 10 years, handily dispatching opponents such as Kay Bailey Hutchinson, a respected moderate Republican of the old school. Perry’s assault on her as a Washington insider effectively overrode her moderation.

He has consistently and sometimes insistently called for Texas to secede from the union, a battle cry that rings true throughout the old Confederate States of America and often in the hearts of red staters elsewhere who ought to understand the consequences of an actual secession from a look at American history but who are blind to the half million dead Americans in the last actual attempt at secession.

Perry has also awed the entire Republican political establishment with his by-the-book recitation of an ideologically driven conservative economic record. As he and his powerful Texas high roller supporters tell it, Texas has enjoyed a level of economic success far and above the level of other states, with a booming job market, a low or in some case no taxes, and an unemployment record that is the envy of the Republican Nation.

That these claims are largely hot air seems to have escaped attention. The Texas economy is based almost entirely on oil, a condition that has existed since 1903 when oil was discovered at the Spindletop Hill in Beaumont. Today, those wells are dry as are most productive wells in the state. Almost all Texas oil economic activity and employment now is based on refining oil from overseas sources such as the Middle East. The ports of Houston and Port Arthur are two of the busiest ports in the nation. Moreover, these ports are ringed with refineries that operate twenty-four seven.

Despite the extent of refining activity, many small towns around the refineries have suffered and continue to suffer severe economic woes. The City of Port Arthur, for example, with a population of about 50,000, is a mere shadow of the boomtown it was early in its history and through World War II. The entire central portion of the town is nothing but the empty and gutted hulks of buildings that once were exclusive hotels, federal buildings, and businesses. Oddly, however, central Port Arthur is the location of City Hall, the police department, and Lamar University Port Arthur. The contrast between these two Port Arthurs is striking and inexplicable in the midst of the highly-touted Texas economy.

But oil is not the only source of economic activity and employment. Texas also has economic segments devoted to farming and ranching and technology, but the only other money maker that might approach oil is federal expenditures in the state. The number of military bases in Texas is large and the military population spends a great deal of money every payday. Moreover, military commands negotiate with Texas businesses for a plethora of goods and services in support of those bases. As in the case of oil, this source of economic activity existed long before Perry was born.

But Perry’s policies and actions in the area of social indicators and social conditions are perhaps the most telling signs of the reality of his governorship. In his zeal to attract corporations to Texas, he has virtually eliminated corporate taxes. To offset this lack of revenue, he has decimated the educational structure. As a result, corporations and businesses have had to rely on technical and professional employees from states such as California and New York, both with top-flight educational systems engaged in producing skilled graduates. Moreover, most of the increase in employment cited by Perry consists predominantly of foreign laborers who are hired into low wage jobs.

Perhaps even more abominable, the portion of Texans covered by health insurance has sunk well below the midpoint of the population because of breaks Perry has given to big businesses.

One wonders when and if the Democrats will expose Perry’s shell game, a game stacked in favor of the rich at the expense of the poor, a game that has created an empty economic shell. If Texas is the model of a conservative economic structure at work, then we will eventually see a flight of jobs to other states. I’m choosing Nevada. Maybe I could find a post-retirement position as a rodeo cowboy. Reno has fine weather in the springtime and an exciting rodeo.

3 Responses

Times like this are when I wish Molly Ivins was still with us. The only good thing I can say about Perry is that, while he appeals to his base, he turns off Independents and even many conservatives. I’d like to think that, if he gets the nomination, the Dems would get another 4 years in office. Then again, it’s possible that we really are just stupid enough to elect Bush’s Evil Twin with the Good Hair.

Rachel, Molly Ivins was the best bar none. I wish someone would come along and fill at least a half of her shoe, Jim Hightower is a top columnist but he lacks Molly’s wit, charm, and biting prose style. The Texas Observer is still around but when Molly passed away, I stopped reading it. As far as Perry goes, it is a sad commentary that Texans of good character can’t get beyond the politics of swagger and start electing politicians who see more to life than smoking cigars and swilling bourbon with the high rollers. This is 2011 and yet Texas seems stuck in 1865. Thanks for your comment. Insightful as usual.